It is well known that allyl and crotyl ethers do not readily undergo either free radical or cationic polymerization and thus, they have only very limited value as monomers for the production of polymers. This is unfortunate since compounds containing allyl or crotyl ether groups are readily prepared, using simple chemistry, and are potentially quite inexpensive.
Motivated by the potential utility of these unsaturated compounds for the production of polymeric products, we have demonstrated that allyl ethers can be isomerized to yield 1-propenyl ethers and that crotyl ethers can be isomerized to give 1-butenyl ethers. The 1-propenyl ethers and 1-butenyl ethers that are the products of these isomerizations can then be made to undergo cationic photopolymerization, but to date, none of the known catalyst systems have been effective for the direct polymerization of allyl or crotyl ethers.
Therefore, there is a need for an efficient and economical process for the direct polymerization of readily prepared and relatively inexpensive allyl and crotyl ethers.